Shelving construction



Jan. 29, 1929.

J. s. SPROTT I SHELVING CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 1925.

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- J. s. SPROTT SHELVIZNG CONSTRUCTION Filed April 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2rllllullal W;

5 N gmmto'v A9184 6, S ear? Patented Jan. 29, 1929.

' JARL s. srno'rr, on YoUNes'rowN, onro, AssIeNon TO THE GENERALrznnrnoor'INav COMPANY, OF YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

SHELVING CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed. April 2, 1926. Serial. Eta-99,386.

. This invention relates to metal shelving and more particularly tosupporting means therefor.

' One of the primary objects of the invention p is to so form a shelfstructure that the availthe. size of the front opening to the shelvingso that in stacking boxes on the shelves a.

space was necessarily left. at the end of each shelf. This invention isdesigned to overcome, this objectionable waste and provides a maximumclearance at the front of the sfihelf to permit the shelves to becompletely lled.

Another object isito provide a shelving. v wherein the posts or supportsare of novel formation and constructed to avoid sharp angles or edges,thereby not only enhancing the ornamental appearance of the structurebut also providing a post constructed so that the paint is not liable tochip off.

A further object is to so support the shelving at the front that oneshelf balances the adjacent. shelf, a single element being employed toconnecttwo shelves.

I NVith' the. above and other objects in view which will more readilyappear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the sameconsists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of partsherein 40 after more fully described, illustrated and claimed. 1 V

. A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying i V drawings, in which:

15- Figure 1 represents a'front elevation of the shelvingconstructedmaccordance wlth this. invention with parts broken out and n sec-- tion.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on the 1'0 line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a detail horizontal section taken i on the line l-'-4: of Fig.1..

4-. as Fg. his a perspective view of portion,

the; shelves.

of one of the postsconstituting a part of the invention. 1

Fig. 5 is a similar View of oneofthe clips used in connection with theposts shown in Fig. 5,. I I r 1 Fig.6 represents longitudinal. sectionsshowing the successive steps in the manufac ture of one of the posts.

Fig. 7 is a detail planview of one corner of the shelving.

S milar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several figures of the drawings. 1

As previously indicated, a'distinctive' feature of thepresent inventionresides in the provision of a shelving construction wherein the fulllength of the shelving may be available for storage space. To that endthe present invention contemplates the" construction of novel supportingmembers, particularly for the front edges of theshelving, which permitof maximum accessibility to-theshelf surface, thereby permitting. thefull, use of the shelving area from one partitiontothe other or from theend of one shelf tot-he end of the other. For example, in theinstallation of shelves for the packing of shoe boxes the presentconstruction has made it possible to add-an extra box to each. shelfthereby effectively increasing the storage capacity of the shelves. p p

In attaining-the: foregoing object the present invention contemplatesthe use of a shelf supportingelement having not only the ad vantagesabove pointedout over the angleiron type of support, but alsoprovide-s asupport of greater stiffness and strength, while at the'same-timeoffering no sharp edges or obstructions to interfere with the, slidingin and out of boxes or the. like stored on inforcing part which stiffensthe memberand enhances the ornamental appearance thereof,- together witha shelf supporting and connectingclip whichis disposed horizontally andlies within the plane of the front edges of the shelves, therebyoffering no obstruc tions or hinderance above and below'the' sur face ofthe shelf to the storage efartie'les between theshelves Referring to thedetails shown inthe accompanying drawings, it will be observed 7 sidesand end flanges 2 and 3 apertured adj acent the corners thereof toreceive the securing bolts f which connect the shelves with theirsupporting posts and with each other. These shelves 1 are supported byfront posts 10 and rear posts 30, said shelves being arranged end to endin alinement and bolted to the posts and to each other as is shownclearly inFig.2. v

The posts 10 are made in the form of sheet metal hollow tubes with alongitudinal seam 11 bordered by two contacting flanges 12 and 13, saidcontacting flanges being arranged in parallelism and provided withregistering bolt-holes to receive the bolts 4 which not only secure theflanges together but connect them with the flanges 2 of the shelves 1.The

tubular body portion of the posts 10 may be reinforced by a wooden rod14. encased within I the posts as is shown clearl in Figs. 2 and 4:.

These posts 10 are made rom metal sheets 15 shown at the top of Fig. 6and are provided adjacent the side edges thereof with a plurality oflongitudinally spaced apertures 16 and at points spaced inwardly fromsaid apertures with elongated slots .17.

punching of the slots and bolt-holes in the blank 15 constitutes themain step of making the posts. The sheet is then grooved longitudinallyas shown at 18 using the slots 17 as points of registration to insurethat the slots and holes 16 coincide on the completion of the posts, asis shown in Fig. 6 at the bottom thereof. The next step is to partiallyremove the crown 19 from between the grooves 18 and to bend the groovedportions into the position'shown at C in'Fig. 6. The next step i in themanufacture of the posts provides in closing the two flanges 21 and 22so that they contact throughout their length as shown in Figs. 5 and 6with their slots 17 and apertures 16 registering.

The clips 23 shown in detail in Fig. 5 are I designed to be introducedin the slots 17 V 23 operating of the posts 10 and bolts to the flanges2 and 3 ofthe shelves 1. These shelving ties or clips 23 as'shownclearly in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 span the space'between two adj acentshelves1 and have the ends thereof bolted to said shelves so that at the frontend of the shelving one shelf balances the adjacent shelf, clip as asupport for the two shelves and providmg in effect a continuous frontflange for adjacent shelves. These clip or tie connected shelves 1 arealso further connected by means of the bolts 4 passing through the endflanges 2 of the shelves and through the flanges 21 and 22 of the postsas is shown clearly in Fig. 4. I

The purpose of the ties or clips 23 is to The connect the shelves sothat the load on adjacent shelves will be balanced by transmitting someof the load on one shelf to the next, thereby relieving the front postsof part of the load. These front posts have only the bead 10 to act as astiffener in order to get as much front clearance as possible while theapparent that additional strength is 131 07 vided.

At the last post of a line of shelving as shown in Fig. 7 a rightangular clip 23 is shown one leg 28 of which extends through the slot 17of post 10 and'is bolted to'the end i flange 3 of the shelf 1. The otherleg 23* over- 7 lies the flanged portion of the post 10 and. is boltedto said post portion and to the flange 2 ofshelf 1.

The rear posts 30 are of the usual con struction and composed of twoangle bars 31 and 32 with their flanges 33 and 34. contacting andlocated between the ends of the shelves 1 and bolted to the flanges 3thereof. The flanges and 36 of these bars aline with each other and arearranged outside the flanges 3 at the ends of the shelves and are boltedto said flanges by the bolts 1 It will be observed by an inspection ofFig.

2 that the front posts 10 are considerably narrower than the rear postsso that the dis tance between posts 10 is considerably greater than thatbetween posts 30 thereby increasing the size of the front opening to theshelving. The flanges 21 and 22 of the front posts 10 may be of anydesired width to render the posts sufficiently strong to support therequired weight.

, From the foregoing it will be seen that the front posts 10 and theirconstruction constitute one of the important and distinctive features ofthe invention one post serving to support two sets of shelving and yetprovide maximum clearance between the posts.

' Without further description it is .thought skilled in the art, and itwill of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion andminor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing fromthe spirit 9 of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim: 4 1. A shelving construction including the shelves, front andrear supporting members for said shelves, means for securing the ends Iof adjacent shelves to said front and rear supporting members, and meansfor connecting the front edges of adjacent shelf members,

said means passing through the front supporting members and connectingthe shelves independently of the said supporting memers.

2. A shelving construction including the shelf, side forming flangesdepending from the body of each shelf, front and rear shelf supportingmembers, saidmembers each in cluding a portion adapted to be disposedbetween the adjacent end flanges of adjoining shelves in the same plane,and the front supporting members having slots, fastenings for connectingthe flanges with the front and rear shelf supporting members, and ashelf tie passing through said slots for connecting the front exposededges of said shelving independently of said front supporting'members.

3. A shelving construction including front and rear shelf supportingmembers, shelves lying in the same horizontal plane and connected toopposite sides of said front-and rear shelf supporting members, andmeans for connecting said shelves independently of "taining relation.

either ofsaid supporting membersthereby to tie adjoining shelves inbalanced load sus- 4. A shelving construction including front and rearshelf supporting members, said front shelf supporting member comprisinga member doublediupon itself to provide a relatively small stiffeningbead and a shelf supporting p0rtion,'and saidrear shelf supportingmember comprising angle members arranged with twoof their flanges inmeeting relation and adapted to lie between adjacent shelves, flangedshelves arranged betweensaid front and rear supporting members, faS-tenings for securingthe flanges of said shelves to said front and rearshelf supporting members, and shelf ties connected to adjoining shelvesto unite the same independently of the shelf supporting members. 7

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my i signature.

- JARL s. SPROTT;

